More than twenty million dollars, more than a year of filming and a year of editing are necessary for Stanley Kubrick, a nitpicker of genius who brings the rushes to his house, by the truckload, to carry out the final editing. The film “Shining” was released in 1980. It was immediately terribly criticized. It is long (144 minutes).
After the first American screenings, Kubrick made cuts himself. He further reduced the film to 119 minutes for Europe. But nothing works. The public in 1980 did not agree. Or little. At least initially. The film was even nominated twice for the Razzie Awards, the lame counterpart to the Oscars. Worst Actress Win for Shelley Duvall and Worst Director Win for Stanley Kubrick.
But the critics see something there. Prohibited for children under 16, the film carries with it a smell of sulfur, unease and horror which attracts a young audience. And that’s how it gradually became a success. Because it marks generations of spectators, Stanley Kubrick having achieved the feat of showing absolute horror.
What could be more horrible than the transformation of a loved one into a murderer, of an exemplary mother into an executioner, of a child into a little visionary monster of his parents' fantasies. This family closed session creates relentless tension and Stanley Kubrick masters to perfection the use of all the innuendoes where everyone is equal.
The father brandishes an axe, the mother a baseball bat, the son is the receiver and projector of the most terrible weapon: the knowledge of his parents' souls.
The fact remains that “Shining” is only a variation on the theme of the haunted house, but for Kubrick, more profane and less Manichean than Stephen King, evil is a notion that struggles to be defined, almost non-existent. Man is only a victim of himself, of his greed, his selfishness and his contradictions. No wonder the film didn't please the writer who started it all, Stephen King.
“Shining” (Extended Cut) (144 minutes) by Stanley Kubrick can be seen in a single screening at the Capitole de Lausanne, on November 22, 2024, as part of the Fear Fridays organized by the Swiss Cinematheque.
